As IT organizations become more strategic, so to do their partnerships with IT outsourcing providers.

Digital transformation, automation, and the data revolution are not just shaking up how IT operates, they are greatly impacting the kind -- and quality -- of services under contract with IT outsourcing firms.

Here is a look at the technologies, strategies and shifting customer demands shaking up IT outsourcing right now and the once-hot developments that are beginning to cool. If you're looking to leverage an IT outsourcing partnership, or want to make good on the market for IT outsourcing as a provider yourself, the following heat index of IT outsourcing trends should be your guide.

Heating up: Rapid software development

IT organizations are increasingly looking for partners who can work with them as they embrace agile development and DevOps approaches. "Organizations are rapidly transforming to agile enterprises that require rapid development cycles and close coordination between business, engineering and operations," says Steve Hall, a partner with sourcing consultancy Information Services Group (ISG). "Global delivery requires a globally distributed agile process to balance the need for speed and current cost pressures."

Cooling down: IT services silos

"The spectrum of skills in demand is becoming more focused, [and] providers seeking to compete in the modern marketplace will need to work harder to attract talent"-- Ollie O'Donoghue, senior research analyst with HfS Research

As companies embrace new development methodologies and infrastructure choices, many standalone IT service areas no longer make sense. "In the past, companies may have sourced app services from one provider and secured cloud services from another," says Ollie O'Donoghue, senior research analyst with HfS Research. "Now, thanks to new methodologies like DevOps and the increased 'cloudification' of business infrastructure, the lines between distinct IT services are blurring. Service providers and clients are far more likely to procure a blend of IT services to deliver business outcomes from a single vendor [rather than] contracting segments of IT out to a range of suppliers."

Some IT service providers are becoming one-stop shops for their clients through brokerage services or partnership agreements. "Offering clients a full spectrum of services from best-in-class providers is enabling providers to broaden the scope of their offerings, and clients to select the technologies and services that suit them," says O'Donoghue. "Even large providers which formerly cornered the market with proprietary technology are starting to champion vendor agnosticism in a bid to offer clients impartial, best-in-class IT services."

Heating up: Cloud integration

Enterprises are moving more workloads to the public cloud, but continuing to run certain applications in dedicated private cloud environments for security, regulatory or competitive reasons. So they're looking for providers that can seamlessly manage and integrate their hybrid cloud environments, says Rahul Singh, managing director with business transformation and outsourcing consultancy Pace Harmon. "Increasing adoption of software-as-a-service models for specific applications (such as Salesforce and Workday) creates further operational complexity for enterprises," Singh adds.

Cooling down: Traditional remote infrastructure management

Over the past decade, the offshore delivery of infrastructure management services -- from network services and help desk support to server maintenance and desktop management -- became mainstream. But remote infrastructure management (RIM) is no longer a growth industry for IT services providers; it can't compete on price with the public cloud, where adoption rates are growing at compound rates of 25% a year. "Almost every enterprise is taking a cloud-first strategy," explains ISG's Hall. "Service providers are shifting to cloud management services; but with the double whammy of integrated DevOps, even this is a short-lived venture."